Why, We Fall (Book One)

06: Boy Danger

"Oh, walaikumusSalam professor Nadir. I didn't see you there. " She quickly said, out of her wits like always whenever she meets the professor outside the classroom.

She looked so beautiful and elegant in that long salwar kameez that perfectly goes with the theme of the restaurant. Now he understood why this new restaurant was the talk of the town. When you see that stunning appearance greeting you in that traditional get up looking like a part of the decoration, the first impression is set and as psychology proves, it's very hard to change the first impression, so whatever people would experience later even if they didn't like the food they would hold the restaurant in a higher regard.
It also certainly helps when she is the last face they would see leaving the restaurant, making it impossible not to love it.
All that assessment went through Hasan's mind in the split of a second. Then he came to his conscious when he realised he's not the person she said salam to.

His friend was.

It irked him further when she didn't even notice him. But as always Hasan Nadir was not the person to be disappointed easily.
So, he is the first one to address her with a Salam like he always seemed to be doing whenever they were outside the class and her surprise face made it all worth it.
Worth getting dragged by his friends to the restaurant who's invitation to it's opening night he declined a few weeks ago.
What an arrogant fool!
He could have seen Aleya in that dress weeks ago. Without his stupid friends too.

Wait, what is he thinking!!

Seeing Aleya in that dress?

Even thinking about how pretty she was?

Has he gone mad or just became a pedophile all of a sudden thinking about his student that way?

Not that Aleya was a child.

She is 24 years old. He doesn't even want to admit he knows that information by checking out her background history the next day of that awkward lunch.
He suppressed the urge to go to the washroom to make udhu and purify himself. That would be admitting what a lovesick teenager he had become every time he was in the presence of Miss Noor. Like he had a crush on her or something.
Stupid brain and it's stupid hormones.

***

Aleya did what she does with every guests and dined her professor and his friends with every bit of traditional manner and politeness like she went on with Kashem over and over again in the beginning of her two days training of becoming a true Pakistani host.

Assigning the new waitress to their table Aleya took her leave and got back to her desk. Two more guests to sign in and she would be done. Sure, she has to bid them goodbye once they start to leave but there's time. 

After checking in the last guests for the night Aleya moved to the bar at the corner where there was non-alcoholic beverages. She poured herself some tea and settled in. She could still see the whole room from where she was sitting so that she could track any guests leaving and be at the door in record time to bid them goodnight.

She kept telling herself that's the very reason why she is looking over her shoulder at the table her professor was sitting in and definitely not because he looked absolutely handsome in that suit he was wearing.
He always wore formal attires. Well, more like a blazer with sometimes a tie, khakis or dress pants. But today it was a full-on formal suit and it was really hard not to notice how that suit hugged his physique. 

He IS a good looking man, isn't he?

Aleya always knew he was handsome but the impropriety of that thought always kept her at bay from even noticing him like that. Even if she did, she for sure never admitted it.
Like she is not going to admit it now how her heart is going a hundred mile per hour just by the thought of her looking over the shoulder and seeing him.
She scolded that very heart for acting like a teenager with a crush and urged herself to act normal. Luckily a distraction in the form of Amjed came into view and distracted her... or tried to.

***

Hasan was watching Aleya. He tried not to but couldn't help himself. He couldn't even concentrate on the conversation with his friends knowing that, just a few feet away was Aleya in the same room as he.  
He watched her checking in guests and escorting them to their tables. 

It looked like the last of the guests had arrived as Aleya was closing the shutter of the door with a housefull sign hanging on it.
Then he got a bit distracted by what his friend Ahmad was spouting and when he looked over again she was gone. His heart stopped hammering.
Did she already leave?
Her shift was over?
He couldn't even say goodbye.
He wouldn't see her over the weekend maybe not even on Monday as their class was on Tuesday noon.

Everything felt boring for a second and just when his heart started to settle in, it picked up again. There she was. At the corner, that looks like a bar which he previously thought just a part of the decoration and she wasn't alone either.
There was a guy with her. He was also wearing traditional Pakistani clothes. They looked cozy together.  And familiar. She was smiling. Then she laughed.
Wholeheartedly.
Just the way she laughed with him that day on the library floor. Just as happy. 
Hasan didn't even try to deny it.
He didn't like the guy or the whole scene in front of his eyes. Why he didn't like it though was another question and Hasan's mind tried every single logic to rationalize it. One of which was, from what Hasan has seen Miss Noor was shy, delicate and he could even go as far as to say, naive. 

So as a professor he was concerned for his student. The guy looked overly friendly with her and even from where he was sitting he could tell he was trying every single trick on the book to impress the girl. He was into her and that's why Hasan didn't like him as he was concerned for his student. The way hasan's brain always worked in his favour never surprised him and he never failed to believe every single logical explanation his brain would concoct. So, this time was no different.

The waitress already served their food. Hasan started eating it eagerly and if the chief saw him he would be proud of himself thinking Hasan really liked the food but anyone else especially his two friends sitting with him there definitely think he was in a hurry.

"What, you have a train to catch? Slow down man. " Zakir, one of his oldest friend in this town, said to him.

"Yeah, else the food would go down to the wrong pipe. " Said Ahmed, patiently putting a spoon of food in his mouth, Hasan's best friend.

"This is the way I eat man. Leave me alone. " Hasan impatiently replied. 

Now, both of his friend looked at him. 
"I've known you for almost 10 years bro. I think I know how you eat. You are the one I always used to get a lecture from when we were in college about how you should savor every bite you eat. Remember?" Said Zakir. With his signature hand gestures, the only person Hasan knows who couldn't talk without his hands.

He was half listening to his friends and half trying to listen to the conversation between Aleya and the boy. Yes, a boy would be the perfect description for him. How old was he anyway? Barely 21? Aleya is a mature woman who Hasan believed appreciated the company of mature adults. Not immature boys like that one.

And that mature adult is you? said his conscious in a condescending manner. Which almost stopped Hasan from finishing his meal faster so that he could untangle Aleya from that guy and give a subtle warning about the likes of him. As another wave of their laughter floated down to his ear from the corner of the room, tickling it violently, the voice of his conscious was forgotten in an instant and he started to devour his food more vigorously. His two friend just gave up on him at that point.